How Post Racial Are We?
by Latoya Peterson
Apparently, so post-racial that the Feds just interrupted an assassination plot that would have eventually targeted Barack Obama.
Two white supremacists allegedly plotted to go on a national killing spree, shooting and decapitating black people and ultimately targeting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, federal authorities said Monday.
In all, the two men whom officials describe as neo-Nazi skinheads planned to kill 88 people — 14 by beheading, according to documents unsealed in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.
The spree, which initially targeted an unidentified predominantly African-American school, was to end with the two men driving toward Obama, “shooting at him from the windows,” the court documents show.
“Both individuals stated they would dress in all white tuxedos and wear top hats during the assassination attempt,” the court complaint states. “Both individuals further stated they knew they would and were willing to die during this attempt.”
This follows the attempted assassination plot back in August at the Democratic National Convention.
So post-racial that vandals tore down a memorial sign to Emmitt Till:
A sign marking the site where Emmett Till’s battered body was pulled from a river in 1955 has been ripped down by vandals, authorities said.
The sign posted on a road near the Tallahatchie River was among eight that were erected after the county adopted a resolution last year apologizing to Till’s family because an all-white jury acquitted two white men of murdering Till for whistling at a white woman. [...]
“We’re not going to tolerate them tearing down anything that’s marking Emmett Till’s murder,” Board of Supervisors President Jerome G. Little said Monday. “I want to send a message: Every time they take it down, we’re going to put it back up.” [...]
This isn’t the first time vandals have targeted Till memorials. Last year, a roadside marker on U.S. 49 in Greenwood in Leflore County was stolen. It was replaced with another sign. And, another sign in Tallahatchie County was damaged earlier this year, commission members said.
So post racial, that we seem to be repeating history:
Jacquline McClelland poses with a photo of her son Brandon McClelland, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008, in Paris, Texas. Brandon, a black man, was on a late-night beer run across state lines to Oklahoma with two white friends last month and ended up dead on a rural Texas road. Authorities say he was run over by a pickup and then dragged as far as 70 feet beneath the truck. Two white men have been charged with murder in the case.
[Please note, that says "murder" not "involuntary manslaughter."]
I have some more positive news for tomorrow – but reading stuff like this just makes me want to pull the covers over my head.
(Photo Credits: Google Images/The Associated Press)
(Thanks to Angel H. and Anna for the tips.)
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Daniel wrote:
Nobody with more than two functional brain cells actually believes that we are in a
“post-racial” era. This is just a BS term that is less meaningful than a snowflake. Many people have been discussing this term, but it has zero legitimacy. It’s also nothing new. The kids back in the 60’s (you remember; peace, love, rock & roll, etc) also thought they were in a “post-racial” era. Throughout the entire span of human history we have had racism and stupidity. There is no shortage of either and I doubt that there ever will be. That’s why it is so important for every sane, rational, intelligent person to speak out. It’s the nut jobs who get all of the attention and grab the headlines. We live in a media-drenched society that emphasizes all that is negative in human nature and diminishes the good work that millions do. Every time I walk into work, I have to be reminded of just how low our culture has sunk when I see the promos for survivor playing outside of CBS studios. I almost admire anybody who can watch such trash and not kill themselves afterward. Is it any surprise then, when such a culture produces two brain-dead, walking abortion promoters? I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of their TV viewing was “reality” (hahaha!) TV. People need to read, read, read and gain perspective. Stupidity and ignorance is the gateway drug to racism.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 8:10 am ¶
Oli wrote:
Post-racial… yeah right
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 8:12 am ¶
browngirlinthering wrote:
i read some of these stories in the paper this AM. combine these heartbreaking (to say the least) stories with the weather in NYC today, and I really just want to go hibernate under the covers. wake me up when the country gets enlightened.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 9:10 am ¶
Fatemeh wrote:
Seriously. May God guide us all.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 9:16 am ¶
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:
Well said.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 9:20 am ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
Oh, Daniel – I wish, WISH that it were only the fools and dummies that believe we have entered a post-racial phase. It’s the perfect “Now you can shut up device” – it marginalizes those who are concerned with racial injustice by painting them as relics, as regressive even, while carrying a seemingly progressive mantle. And I hear it most from . . . the educated white liberals in my circle.
I appreciate the desire to wish race into the cornfield but unless you’re that creepy little kid on The Twilight Zone, you can’t do it. And just saying it’s there isn’t the same thing as working to make it disappear. But it’s a hell of a lot easier.
All of this is sick and saddening. Post-racial my delicious ass.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 9:27 am ¶
Tiffany wrote:
Anyone who actually believes that we live in a post racial world is an idiot.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 9:37 am ¶
cinco wrote:
NO! Racism is very alive. It’s only receiving band-aids from time to time. I think Obama must be aware of the risks he’s taking. For some people he will never be the one.
But@least if something does happen to him Biden is a better alternative than Palin.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 9:55 am ¶
Sean wrote:
Daniel, you said it all, buddy!
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 10:24 am ¶
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
what the fuck is wrong with people?
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 10:46 am ¶
Eva wrote:
We will never live in a post-racial era. Even if everyone were the same race, the same color, people would still be prejudiced against others for because of something, be it glasses, weight or height.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 11:26 am ¶
toni wrote:
frustrating but true as all have said previously. i think that our country has not only NOT moved forward, but has regressed on the teeny bit progress we had made in both racism and sexism…
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 11:40 am ¶
Cecelia wrote:
We are not post racial.
This is such a post racial society that Detroit Michigan is the poorest city in America with 18% of homes unoccupied, with unemployment the highest in the nation and being the most segregated city in the nation. With economically wealthy people turn up their noses at Detroit as if it is not their problem. This is such a post racial society that I am not allowed to wear my “Ojibway Pride” sweater because someone judges me by my last name. That if he knew Native history in the Great Lakes area he would know the French and Ojibway mixed. This is such a post racial society that my friend who is Indian/Egyptian gets judge by her looks for being Muslim when she is spiritual and follows her own path. This is such a post racial society that people didn’t fill up with fear when someone different that who they are was in the room. Finally, this is not a post racial society because if it was all of the above would be changed or experienced in a much more anti-racist, non-judgmental and peaceful way.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 12:47 pm ¶
Michelle wrote:
Humans always organize themselves around something. The feudal system in Europe. Race in America. The list goes on and on.
Race has really have anchored itself in the American paradigm of human and non-human. It doesn’t seem that it will ever really go away, especially now that you have all these racial code words within political discourse like “muslim” (a religion, not a race, however in the American psyche it is a race), “urban”, “inner-city”, “communism/ist”, “marxism/ist” and “socialism/ist”.
More importantly, racists (and non anti-racists) have actually managed to control the discussion and definitions of what racism actually means.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 12:52 pm ¶
Luis wrote:
I just want to challenge those saying “there will always be something to divide,” by making sure they also intend to say “but race doesn’t have to be it.”
Racism, as we know it, is really only 500 years old, a product of the immensely fast colonial contact with other continents. The current pseudo-scientific phase we’re in is maybe 150 years old. This is a fraction of human history.
Ultimately people will continue to create distinctions. Even if Americans accept themselves as a multiracial society, there will still be nationalistic chauvinism around. But even the nation-state is a modern invention, so who can say what’s down the line. What matters is that we keep fighting the tendency.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 2:29 pm ¶
Rchoudh wrote:
Yes I agree with everyone else that a “post-racial” society is nowhere to be found in this day and age in any part of the world. Here in America especially with its multi cultural heritage this type of society has not surfaced anywhere. There will always be people who are outright racist (how else could forums giving voice to racist NeoNazi views be in existence today?) And there will always be people who wish racism would go away by itself and therefore cling to the notion that America has now become a “post racial”society. As long as such people exist the racist capitalist power structure in existence today will continue to oppress those of us who are not white or who could not pass for it. How do we deal with this? I really don’t know. It seems like dealing with racism becomes more complicated by the day (what passes for racism today are the “code words” and subtle propaganda that most people would never catch).
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 2:29 pm ¶
kerrita k wrote:
are we post-race? do we live in a post racial america? if ya have to ask – then the work isn’t done…
kerrita k.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 3:39 pm ¶
Daniel Brennan wrote:
@ A.D. Nix It is my belief that we do not live in a “post-racial” society or culture. I also feel that the term “post-racial” is ridiculous, stupid and insulting for the very reasons you stated, i.e.: “Now you can shut up device” I have talked to several individuals who have brought up “post-racial society” in my presence and I have told them how wrong they were. They were not happy with me. Those who claim to believe in such nonsense are either lying to make people shut up about racism or they are complete idiots. Please feel free to send any such “educated white liberals” my way for a re-education. I don’t where “the desire to wish race into the cornfield” comment comes from, but I assure you that it never came from me. “Race” exists because we all perceive that it exists and we have all been brought up in cultures that make it a point to emphasize race. Since it exists in that manner, it is relevant in our conversations and it effects all of us socially, emotionally and in a thousand other ways.
In the scientific sense, race is completely false and was dreamed up by white Europeans to keep themselves at the top of the heap and all others subservient. Again, speaking strictly scientifically, there is only one species of humans on the planet and genetically we are all over 99% the same. Let me be very clear here. I am not wishing away race, saying that it does not exist or saying that I do not see it. What I am saying is that it is only through our common humanity that we can ever hope to overcome racism. That’s still a long way away, but it will either happen or we will destroy ourselves.
Let me add that I don’t say anything without backing it up with action along the same lines. What I say is directly related to what I do and how I live my life.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 3:49 pm ¶
ieishah wrote:
i’m wondering if the actual picture of till’s mangled face was necessary here. no we don’t live in a post racial society, yes things are still way fucked up, yes we fear for obama and the crazies who will act like a black president is the very death of the country . . . but what obama’s race for prez proves for me, is that not only are we so not post racial, but that people are always ready to appeal to our basest of instincts . . . as in hilary’s ‘y’all, remember i’m white’ campaigning, palin’s ‘ who is barack obama?’ bullshit and john mccain’s ‘that one’ jim crow flashback moment, which that youtube guy so beautifully skewered . . .
then there’s that pic. which only served to make me more fearful. it makes me feel pure, unadulterated where’s the nearest underground railroad fear. and not just for obama, but for my family back in the states. and i’m wondering if a black president is not more of a curse than a blessing. i’m wondering if that pic was really necessary here.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 7:17 pm ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
@Daniel Brennan: I think you’ve misread or misunderstood about 35% of my comment.
For the record, the “desire to wish race into the cornfield” comment comes from . . . me. It’s a description of what some (hell, lots) of post-racial talk attempts to do.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 9:13 pm ¶
jvansteppes wrote:
And how would these white terrorists be treated if they were Arab or Muslim or black? These were just 2 boys who made a bad choice.
Oh yeah, terror doesn’t need to be racialized when it’s committed by white people.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 9:19 pm ¶
NancyP wrote:
This “post-racial” stuff seems delusional, but it is understandable. My gut reaction is to counter it with information. I am usually of the opinion that despicable types like the two domestic terrorists in the plot described above should be exposed to the public as a cautionary sign – shooting up a school should be enough to give the most rabid Republican partisan a pause – but sometimes I think that publicity breeds copycats and not revulsion.
Whatever their political opinion, any sentient American ought to appreciate Obama’s bravery. Yes, he has the best security in the country, supposedly. But wouldn’t you still feel a bit nervous if you were in his shoes? I would. I am with Fatemeh – may God guide us all.
Posted 29 Oct 2008 at 2:31 am ¶
Daniel wrote:
@A.D. Nix Gotcha! Going only by the way you worded your comment it seemed that you were saying that I was the one trying to do that. I am curious though. What does a cornfield have to do with wishing away racism?
Posted 29 Oct 2008 at 7:09 am ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
@ Daniel: Twilight Zone reference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It’s_a_Good_Life_(The_Twilight_Zone)
Posted 29 Oct 2008 at 9:04 am ¶
Daniel wrote:
Ah, yes…got it!
Posted 29 Oct 2008 at 12:53 pm ¶
Free wrote:
@ Luis – I just want to challenge those saying “there will always be something to divide,” by making sure they also intend to say “but race doesn’t have to be it.
I second that: we forget that race is a social construct. Prior to the 1700s, the division of human beings based upon skin color DID NOT EXIST (not yelling, just raising the voice a little because emphasis is needed). Believing that “like seeks like,” (the us vs. them world view) means that we are still a colonized people deceived by the illusion of freedom. Would you like the red pill or blue?
The Concept of Race
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvG1ylKhzoo&feature=related
From the American Anthropological Association Statement on Race:
From its inception, this modern concept of “race” was modeled after an ancient theorem of the Great Chain of Being, which posited natural categories on a hierarchy established by God or nature. Thus “race” was a mode of classification linked specifically to peoples in the colonial situation … As they were constructing US society, leaders among European-Americans fabricated the cultural/behavioral characteristics associated with each “race,” linking superior traits with Europeans and negative and inferior ones to blacks and Indians. Numerous arbitrary and fictitious beliefs about the different peoples were institutionalized and deeply embedded in American thought.
http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm
Posted 03 Nov 2008 at 1:16 pm ¶